The TAIL End
Keep Your Eye On The Prize
I’d been taking our dog,
Josie, to agility classes for
over a year. She seemed to
be a natural at the obstacles and break-neck turns.
She was also fast and listened to direction. But Josie had one
weakness: Daddy. My husband is often on
the road, so whenever he came to watch
classes, Josie would make a beeline for him.
In the end, Josie’s skill level when Daddy
was not there always overshadowed her
Attention Deficit Disorder when he was. As
we entered our second year of classes, the
trainer encouraged us to enter Josie in a
competition. After much discussion, we
decided it was worth a try. What could happen?
On the day of the big event, my husband,
Josie and I gathered up water, the video
camera and treats galore and headed to the
park. We checked in with the officials, Josie
and I got the eighth spot in the line up, and
then time passed slowly as we waited for
our turn. Meanwhile, my husband and I
devised a plan: he would pretend he was
leaving the park when the fifth team started,
complete with our goodbye-comfort-phrase,
“Be right back!” Then he’d hide somewhere
and videotape the fun. Perfect plan!
Finally, they called for Number Eight. I took
a big breath. This was it. Our trainer was
watching. Our classmates were watching. A
bunch of strangers and “real” agility competitors were watching. My husband was
watching…from somewhere.
We walked up to the starting line. I bent
down and gave Josie a little pep talk while
rubbing her face. “Are you ready?,” I said in
that voice that says Look how excited I am!
This means food is in your future! I slowly
took her leash off as she sat patiently waiting for the “okay.” I walked to the first
obstacle in order to get far enough ahead of
her to keep up. She waited. So far, so good.
I looked at her. She looked at me. We were
ready.
I shouted, “Okay!” and—just as planned—
she came barreling at me, took the first jump
by Emily Volman
and…ran right out of the course. She ran
frantically throughout the on-lookers. I tried
to call her back in my happiest I have food
voice, practically throwing the treats at her,
but she didn’t even look back. Now, as you
may have seen in other competitive situations involving canines, officials usually
frown upon loose dogs running wild around
other contained dogs. They started yelling at
me to “get control of your dog!” Then they
yelled at each other—things like, “We cannot continue until we have this animal under
control!” Yes, control my dog—but you see,
she’s clearly just stressed! Have pity on us!
We’re new! I was panicked for Josie’s safety, yet I simultaneously wanted to pass out
in embarrassment.
Wait. Suddenly, it dawned on me. She’s
looking for Daddy! Where’s Daddy?
He was, of course, hiding and filming every
moment, just like we’d planned. And, yes,
we have the tape. Josie does look like a
crazed animal, being followed by a woman
running in circles, screaming and waving
meat products in the air.
The best part of that tape is where I really
start letting my husband have it…in front of
everyone…even though I had no idea where
he was.
After some of my even more embarrassing
flailing and shrieking, my husband appeared
and Josie ran right to him.
The agility officials quickly moved on to the
next team and had nothing further to say to
us. My husband and I slinked to our car with
our tails between our legs, while Josie happily pranced beside us, tail wagging high in
the air. To her, she had just won the best ribbon anyone could offer: Daddy. And at that
very moment, I think that even a twelveinch sausage link would have gone
unnoticed.
Nah, you’re right.
Emily Volman lives in Franklin
with her husband and two dogs,
Josie and Jasper.